Student who brought handgun to school pleads not guilty

COLUMBIA — A Columbia teenager who was arrested on charges of bringing a loaded pistol to school in January pleaded not guilty to three felonies in Boone County Circuit Court on Monday.

Alonzo Stevens, 17, is charged with two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of possessing stolen property. He was arrested after police caught him with a loaded .45-caliber handgun at Douglass High School on Jan. 25.

At that time, Stevens and the gun were linked to two shootings, one at Town and Country Bowling Lanes and another at Wilkes Boulevard and Paris Road, based on previous Missourian reports. Those incidents, the latter of which sent two boys to the hospital, happened two days before school administrators found him with the gun at school.

Police said at the time of the arrest that they suspected Stevens belonged to a local gang and that the crimes were linked to a gang feud.